The problem is no-one knows how to create spider silk artificially (and you can't farm spiders: they eat each other). The material itself is vastly difficult to analyse, and all of the special properties of spider silk come from the way it's passed through the spider's spinnerets.

Once they've worked that out, unfortunately I imagine the resulting product probably has a million and one more pressing uses than as a heatsink.

This is very interesting. Perhaps if they were able to determine more details on how the molecular structure of the silk enabled such good heat conductance they would be able to make more refined synthetic materials so we can have non-metal heat-sinks? Or maybe water cooling tubing made out of the stuff?

really neat, reminds me of an older news story about carbon nano tubes as a prospective thermal interface material. Though I really do hate constantly hearing about what is on the horizon and never seeing the cool ones come through.

The problem is no-one knows how to create spider silk artificially (and you can't farm spiders: they eat each other). The material itself is vastly difficult to analyse, and all of the special properties of spider silk come from the way it's passed through the spider's spinnerets.

Once they've worked that out, unfortunately I imagine the resulting product probably has a million and one more pressing uses than as a heatsink.

There is a farm in the US that's worked it out, they have spliced the silk making DNA/Genes whatever ! from (I think) an Orb Weaver Spider with goats to create spider goats ! (True) (they just look like normal goats )

When the spider goats are milked, the milk gets refined and they get spools of spider silk straight out of the refined liquid !